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Spanking the Monkey
Spanking the Monkey
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	David O. Russell
Written by	David O. Russell
Produced by	Dean Silvers
Starring	Jeremy Davies; Alberta Watson; Carla Gallo; Benjamin Hendrickson;
Cinematography	Michael Mayers
Edited by	Pamela Martin
Music by	David Carbonara
Distributed by	Fine Line Features
Release date	July 15, 1994;
Running time	99 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$200,000
Box office	$1.4 million

Spanking the Monkey is a 1994 American black comedy film^[3] written and directed by David O. Russell. It was filmed in Pawling, New York.^[4]

Plot

Ray Aibelli has finished his first year of college at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He plans to spend his summer taking advantage of the prestigious medical internship he earned; however, he has to forego the award to take care of his mother, Susan Aibelli. She has suffered a leg injury keeping her homebound just as her husband, Tom, is about to leave for an extended period to work as a traveling salesman. Ray's relationship with his overly controlling father is troubled. Meanwhile, his parents also have a strained relationship with one another. Susan often feels lonely and disappointed by a lack of achievement in life while Tom regularly cheats on his wife with sex workers.

Ray feels obliged to take care of his mother. While helping her shower, he glimpses her naked and experiences a sexual attraction towards her. This leads to a moment of intimacy when he massages her upper thigh. He feels extreme guilt for his incestuous feelings and rubs his skin raw to punish himself. His sexual frustration is exacerbated when while trying to masturbate he is unable to do so, due to the family's dog repeatedly interrupting him. He seeks refuge through his friends from high school, however they are immature and Ray feels increasingly alienated from them. Seeking connection, he begins a relationship with local teenager Toni Peck whom he struggles to communicate with, both socially and during sex, leading to her rebuffing him.

Feeling isolated, Ray turns to his mother and shares with her his recent sexual encounter with Toni, and she offers him sexual advice. He later openly stares at his mother's body in the shower, increasing their physical intimacy. Just as things are escalating between Ray and his mother, Ray has an opportunity to leave his mother behind when his Aunt Helen offers to be Susan's caretaker. He excitedly prepares to leave the next day. Despite this, Ray and Susan have another sexual encounter after Helen annoys them both. This happens late at night and leads to Ray missing his bus the next day. Then, Ray's father informs him that he will no longer be able to pay for his university tuition causing Ray's concern about his future to increase.

Toni and Ray resume their sexual relationship and are kissing when Susan interrupts them. She slaps Toni, injuring her. Ray and Susan have a loud argument that quickly devolves into groping and kissing. Meanwhile, Toni flees and is comforted by her father who then confronts Ray; however, Susan flirts with Toni's father, distracting him from punishing Ray.

Ray attempts to commit suicide by hanging himself from the bathroom door but Susan interrupts him. Frustrated, he complains that he can't achieve anything and attempts to initiate sexual contact with Susan. He kisses her passionately but then pulls back and attempts to strangle her to death, but then stops himself. He accepts an invitation from his friends to hang out with them again, joining them near the river. After being provoked by one of his friends, he jumps off a cliff. Early the next morning, Ray is seen hitching a ride with a truck driver.

Cast

Jeremy Davies as Raymond "Ray" Aibelli
Alberta Watson as Susan Aibelli
Benjamin Hendrickson as Tom Aibelli
Carla Gallo as Toni Peck
Judette Jones as Aunt Helen
Matthew Puckett as Nicky
Zak Orth as Curtis
Josh Philip Weinstein as Joel
Judah Domke as Don
Nancy Fields as Dr. Wilson

Music

Select tracks from Morphine's album Cure for Pain are used throughout the film, including "In Spite of Me" which plays over the end credits.

Reception

Spanking the Monkey was a box office success, grossing $1,359,736 on a $200,000 budget.^[2]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 92% based on reviews from 26 critics and an average rating of 7.4/10. The site's consensus states: "David O. Russell's feature debut scores with an endearing cast and offbeat humor, finding compelling sweetness in perverse places."^[5] On Metacritic it has a score of 66% based on reviews from 15 critics.^[6]

The film won the Audience Award at the 1994 Sundance Film Festival and the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay.^[7]

Year-end lists

6th – Bob Strauss, Los Angeles Daily News^[8]
6th – Douglas Armstrong, The Milwaukee Journal^[9]
10th – Peter Travers, Rolling Stone^[10]
10th – Todd Anthony, Miami New Times^[11]
Top 10 (listed alphabetically, not ranked) – Jimmy Fowler, Dallas Observer^[12]
Top 10 runner-ups (not ranked) – Janet Maslin, The New York Times^[13]
Honorable mention – Glenn Lovell, San Jose Mercury News^[14]

References

^ "Spanking the Monkey". British Board of Film Classification. August 3, 1995. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
^ ^a ^b ^c Spanking the Money at Box Office Mojo
^ "Spanking the Monkey". AllMovie.
^ Biskind, Peter (2016). Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Film. Los Angeles: Simon and Schuster. p. 34. ISBN 978-1501279881.
^ "Spanking the Monkey". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
^ "Spanking the Monkey". Metacritic. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
^ Who's Who of Canadian Women, 1999-2000. Ottawa, Canada: Who's Who Publications. 1999. p. 1063. ISBN 0920966551.
^ Strauss, Bob (December 30, 1994). "At the Movies: Quantity Over Quality". Los Angeles Daily News (Valley ed.). p. L6.
^ Armstrong, Douglas (January 1, 1995). "End-of-year slump is not a happy ending". The Milwaukee Journal. p. 2.
^ Travers, Peter (December 29, 1994). "The Best and Worst Movies of 1994". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
^ Anthony, Todd (January 5, 1995). "Hits & Disses". Miami New Times.
^ Zoller Seitz, Matt (January 12, 1995). "Personal best From a year full of startling and memorable movies, here are our favorites". Dallas Observer.
^ Maslin, Janet (December 27, 1994). "CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK; The Good, Bad and In-Between In a Year of Surprises on Film". The New York Times. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
^ Lovell, Glenn (December 25, 1994). "The Past Picture Show the Good, the Bad and the Ugly -- a Year Worth's of Movie Memories". San Jose Mercury News (Morning Final ed.). p. 3.